New Americana
by unfortunate-mexican
Summary: "Never trust a survivor until you know what they did to survive." AU. Sasuke joins the rebellion that his brother gave his life for, under the leadership of a determined, hard-headed, pink haired girl. Along the way, he learns the truth about the government the rich and powerful love so much. *kinda inspired by Halsey's New Americana music video*
1. Chapter 1

Sasuke was completely and utterly bored.

He was walking around the village in search of something to do, a job to complete, or someone to spar with. He dreaded days like this one, where his brother was out on a non-paying job (he never really told Sasuke what he went to do), and the idiot was out training with his perverted mentor. He had nothing to do, no one to train with, and he hated it.

He supposed he should just wait until noon. That's usually when the idiot finished his training and dragged him to Ichiraku's to refill his bottomless tank with him and then go for an afternoon training session.

He settled for going back to the compound and read a couple of scrolls that could help him out with his hand-to-hand technique. They lived in Konohagakure, which ranked four out of all the villages. That means Kirigakure -what Itachi liked to call Command Central- still sent them enough resources, scrolls included. Since the Uchiha's were the most well-known clan in the village, they got first dibs on whatever information scrolls they wanted.

On his way home, he felt something latch onto his arm. He inwardly sighed, knowing already what it was. "Get off me," he grumbled.

Ami Watanabe was one of his many, _many_ 'suitors'. It was customary for young men of eighteen years of age to already be engaged to a woman, but since Sasuke had absolutely zero interest in any of the girls in this village, he didn't see that happening anytime soon. Clearly, Ami could not see that.

She let go of his arm, and as soon as she did, Sasuke continued his trek. She sighed in annoyance and continued to follow him. "Come on, Sasuke! Let's go out! We're both not getting any younger, and we're both from respectable families, it makes sense for us to be together!"

Sasuke stopped, causing her to bump into his shoulder. Her turned and fixed her with his most heated glare. "I said no," he said between gritted teeth. He ignored her shocked features and turned back towards his home, leaving Ami, who was gaping like a fish, in his wake.

Once he stepped through the threshold of his house, he took off his sandals and tried to pass quietly into the library without being noticed by his parents.

"Sasuke?" a masculine voice he recognized as his fathers called out.

He inwardly sighed and made his way to the kitchen, where his father sat, reading and analyzing a variety of scrolls and his mother prepared a meal for her husband.

"Yes?"

"Did Itachi say when he was going to be returning?"

"Yes, tonight."

"Okay, thank you. You may go."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. His father didn't ask as many questions as he normally did. Most of the time, when his father stopped him when Itachi wasn't home, he made it into an interrogation, trying to gather any information Sasuke knew about his whereabouts and when he would arrive back home. It was complete waste of time, considering, Itachi always told Fugaku, but he never paid attention. Sasuke learned to just avoid his father when his brother was away.

He chalked the lack of questions up to the fact that he was probably busy with the scrolls. Back in the day, his father was one of the head guards at the Capitol Building in Kiri, where some of the 'most important' people lived and operated from. Even though he's retired, they still seek him out for his intelligence and quick-thinking when needing help for safety procedures and strategies. When he retired, they sent him to live in Konoha, where they send almost all the ex-guards. Sasuke was lucky, he supposed. If his father had done things to upset the higher-ups, they could have sent them to one of the lower villages, where they don't send as many resources and supplies to and leave them to fend for themselves.

With a barely there shrug, he moves towards where the library is, but before he could even get his hand on the door knob, there's a knock at the door.

"Honey? Could you get that?" His mother called out, and as soon as she did, he immediately turned to get the door. He would do anything for his mother.

He hoped to God that it wasn't another one of his 'suitors' here to proposition him again. The last time that one of them had done that, his father had gotten it into his head that maybe it was a good idea for Sasuke to start looking for a life-long partner.

' _As if,'_ hethought bitterly. All the girls he knew -he uses that term lightly- were self-obsessed and self-serving.

His prayers had been answered when, instead of a petite teenage girl, there was a large blonde. He supposed that that really wasn't any better.

"What do you want, idiot?"

Naruto let out a toothy grin. "The perv let me go early." A quick glance at the clock on the wall behind told him that it was indeed only eleven.

"So?"

The blond rolled his eyes. "Iruka gave me the cash that came in today, and I'm really hungry, and you're gonna quit being antisocial and come eat with me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but nevertheless complied, telling his parents he would be back before nightfall. As they walked to the ramen stand, Naruto had felt the need to relay every detail about the day's morning sessions. He overexaggerated greatly, causing him to make some side remarks, which led to Naruto punching his arm a couple times (he keeps telling himself that they didn't really hurt).

"Anyways bastard, today, it's my treat," Naruto proclaimed pridefully.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Every single time he got some income, he insisted on paying for everything, not that he minded. But that always led to him spending way too much and not having enough by the end of the month, which meant Sasuke had to pay for everything.

Naruto was an orphan, and he always blamed Kiri Law for it. Years ago, the ones in charge of maintaining the villages issued a decree that any child conceived out of wed-lock had to be either 'taken care of', or given away to any village below the top three. They ranked villages in population, individual intelligence and skill, and the best ones would get the most resources and supplies -Kiri, of course being at the top-, while the ones at the bottom were left to rot with their own devices. Naruto's parents had decided to give him to Konoha when Iruka, a teacher in the academy was assigned as his caretaker. After a village is chosen and approved, the parents are forced into cells for disobeying the law and sleeping together before marriage. Since Naruto was, for the most part, on his own, the officials at the Capitol Building sent him a monthly allowance until he turns nineteen.

The idiot always complained that money didn't make up for what they did, but he didn't seem to complain whenever he got it.

Once, in a fit of anger, Sasuke had mentioned that it was his parents own fault for not being able to control their hormones, and Naruto punched him and didn't speak to him for two weeks. After a healthy dose of persuasion from Itachi, he managed to swallow his pride and apologize. Sasuke always reminded himself that that topic was off limits.

When they got to the stand and ordered, Naruto started up another conversation. "Did you hear that there was another attack in Kiri?"

That got his attention. "Really?"

"Yup, apparently they burst into people's houses and started taking jewels. Some people were even killed."

Sasuke shook his head. People who left the villages and refused to comply under Kiri law were deemed rouge, and left to fend for themselves. Rouges often went to the top villages and tried out their own personal form of justice, trying to eliminate the ones who set up the village systems. They never made it into the Capitol Building, and settled for taking out innocent civilians. Sure, Sasuke was aware that there was a social bias, and that the rich and wealthy were the ones who got all the nice things and special attention, but he doesn't know what would possess people to think that just confronting them and murdering people did any form of justice.

"Idiots. All of them."

"You're telling me."

After lunch, him and Naruto did some light training until the sky had turned a light purple. After saying their goodbyes, they parted ways and he headed over to his house.

He entered the compound, and looked around, not seeing his parents and assumed they had gone to sleep. After a quick bath, he had gone off to bed, sleep coming easily to him, especially since his muscles were undeniably sore. Sasuke, not unlike the other members of his family, failed to notice that his brother had not yet returned.


	2. Chapter 2

She woke up with a headache. With an everything ache, really.

She could barely see anything, considering her vision was blurry from the blow to the head she received a couple hours ago and the fact that the lighting in the place they were holding her was a complete joke. She recognized one of her captors -ironically, the same one that captured her parents a couple years back- as Hidan, one of the Akatsuki, the name Southern Rouges gave themselves.

He held up a needle filled with a light blue substance and flicked it in front of her for good measure.

"Well, looks like Sakura's awake now."

Sakura's brain caught up with her and her internal panic alarms started going off. She struggled against the chains that were binding her wrists and the armrests of the chair she was currently sitting in together. She tried to kick up her legs only to feel them tied to the chairs legs. She tried screaming at Hidan, if only to piss him off, but her voice died in her throat when she felt the cloth in her mouth currently gagging her.

Hidan injected the needle into the side of her arm, making a sudden drowsiness fill her. Her rapid movements against her restraints seemed to dull. Her vision became blurry once more and all she could see was Hidan's ugly mug.

"Shh, shh, shh, shh. If I were you, I would save my strength."

Darkness was suddenly filling her eyesight and before long, she was unconscious, but before darkness overcame her, she managed to hear the metal door slam open and her name being called out by a familiar voice.

Sakura woke up to the sounds of pain a few meters from her. As her eyes started opening, the man next to her (one of the Akatsuki's goons, she was sure) turned her head to see her trusted partner being beaten to a pulp. The sight made all left-over drowsiness leave her.

"They're trying to access Command Central. We can't let them get the information or-" he was cut off by a punch to his face.

"You seem to have forgotten," Hidan's voice rang from directly behind her. "I know exactly how to get what I want."

Two other nameless faces came to either side of her. They simultaneously undid the chains binding Sakura to the chair, knowing she'd be too weak to fight back.

"Bring her up."

They chained her wrists together this time and hooked a rope onto her cuffs. Hidan tugged on the rope, pulling Sakura's body up by her hands, until her body dangled from the ceiling, a few inches from the ground. She let out a muffled yell, voice still being clogged by the cloth in her mouth. Her arms felt like they were being ripped out of their sockets.

They lowered her down until her was on her knees. Her arms and shoulders stung, feeling like they were settling back into place.

Sakura sighed a premature sigh of relief, before her hair was pulled, tilting her head upwards and an already damp rag was thrown onto her face, covering it completely. Knowing what was coming next, Sakura took the deepest breath she could before water came rushing onto her face.

When the need for oxygen was starting to be too great, she let her breath go, only to regret it moments later when an even bigger amount of water made its way into her nose and mouth, giving her a drowning sensation.

After a couple more minutes of the water-boarding, the removed the rag from Sakura's face. She coughed what seemed to be a gallon of water out of her lungs, and took shallow, ragged breaths. A rough hand grasped her chin, making Sakura look up at Hidan.

"The sooner you give me what I want, the sooner this can end."

Sakura only narrowed her eyes and turned her head slightly. She opened her mouth and bit his hand as hard as she possible could.

With a yelp of pain, he retracted his hand from her, only to bring it down on her face once more with much more force.

His gaze shifted towards where her partner was hanging, looking on with all the hate he could possible muster. His normally black eyes seemed to glow red with rage.

"Try to get some information from him. I'll deal with her."

The two goons that were behind Sakura moved to face her partner, and began giving him the same treatment Hidan was currently giving her.

Sakura might've grown up outside the villages, where the education was less than exceptional, but she wasn't an idiot. She was anything but. She knew why these buffoons captured them. She was a Northern Rouge, born and raised, and while they gained their information and made their negotiations peacefully, the Akatsuki obviously did not.

They had gotten the coordinates to a secret opening into Command Central in Kiri (for negotiations purposes, obviously), and they clearly wanted it (not for negotiation purposes, obviously).

Once Sakura came into a position of authority at her own base, she had decided on a different way to handle their information. Important pieces of information were to be divided in two, so that two people could have different parts of the info. It was supposed to work like puzzle. One had some pieces and the other had more, but the separate pieces never really made sense until you placed them together. That way, even if they managed to capture one of them, they would never get all the information they set out to get.

Sakura was certain that was why they had captured them both. They had caught on quick.

She saw Hidan go to the wall farthest from her. When he came back, he had a long, thick hose in is hands.

Without warning, he turned on the hose and set it to the highest pressure, aiming it right at her. The water hit her body with copious amount for force. She just knew it was going to leave bruises (if she made it out of this crap-tastic situation). The water came at her for a couple more minutes before Hidan decided he had enough of the water.

Sakura heard pained grunts from beside her as well as the sound of fists hitting human flesh. She winced when she heard the stifled groans of her partner.

Hidan appeared in her line of sight with something at his feet.

"Oh, you have _got_ to kidding- "

"Shut up!"

Hidan grabbed the ends of the jumper cables that were connected to a small battery. Sakura managed to see the voltage of the battery, and momentarily felt relief. While it was enough to give her a hefty shock, it wasn't enough to actually shock her to death.

When the end of the cable made contact with her skin, she felt like her entire body was on _fire_. Her brain felt like it short-circuited and any attempt to scream died off in her throat. She vibrated with the sheer force of electricity run through her.

' _The things I do for them'_ she thought almost bitterly.

Sakura knew her thought held no real malice. Unlike most of the Northerners, Sakura was born into the life of a Rouge. Her mother and father were the leaders of said organization for years, even after Sakura was born, they felt they had a duty to them and continued to lead them, despite advice saying it wasn't safe for a newborn.

Right up until the point they were captured and killed by the Southerners for information.

Some of the older members thought it'd be best for Sakura to resume their position as leader. Naturally, she was weary, but they thought that she had learned the most from her parents, and would be a great leader, like they had been. They had been right, of course, but in the late hours of the night, when Sakura couldn't sleep, feelings of inadequacy swamped her mind.

She would never be as good a leader as her parents, she was sure, but she knew she could at least try to lead the ones who practically raised her. Still, she sometimes felt too overwhelmed by the sheer power her voice and presence held among them.

Still, despite all that, she loved her fellow Rouges and would happily give her life for any one of them.

When Hidan was done playing electrocutioner, he grabbed her chin and looked her dead in the eye. With his free hand, he snapped his fingers and pointed to the door next to her partner.

Suddenly, he was being released from his chains and dragged to the back room. Panic seeped into Sakura.

"No, stop, what are you doing?!"

As he was being dragged, he began yelling words of reassurance in a way only he knew how.

"Sakura, it's gonna be fine! You can hold out, don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Sobs began falling out of her freely. A cold realization hit her like a tidal wave; she was going to lose her partner today.

"It's okay, I'll be okay! Don't worry about me, don't cry, you'll be fine.

"It'll all be okay."

She managed to hear his voice before the large steel door shut with a loud thud.

"I'm going to count down from five, and when I do, something very bad will happen."

Sakura's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Five."

"No, please, you can't do this! You need him alive- "

"Four."

"You can't kill him! If you do, your plan - "

"Three."

"-will never work! Can't you see that?"

"Two."

"You need both of us alive to get both of our information pieces! Don't do this."

"One."

A single, loud gunshot was heard in the entirely too quiet room.

"ITACHI!"

Sakura felt numb. Despite the brutal blows being delivered to her body, she barely registered the pain.

She just lost her best friend. Her partner since early childhood. The man she looked up to as a brother.

Gone. Just like that. Silent tears streamed down her cheeks when she saw the two guys drag his body outside.

By the time blood was running down her face, she couldn't take it anymore.

"So, you finally cracked, huh?"

"Piss off."

They lowered her down to the floor, and handed her a notepad and a pen. Sakura, for the benefit of not feeling like a traitor, wrote it in the shakiest, less-legible handwriting she could (it also may have had a bit to do with the fact that she just heard a dear friend of hers get murdered).

"You're an idiot," she said with as much venom in her voice as was humanly possible. "You still only have half of the coordinates. You'll never find out what the other half is."

If she was being honest with herself, that was probably the only reason she gave in. Even if she told them, it still wouldn't be enough. They still wouldn't have the full coordinates and whoever is running this will probably kill them for killing Itachi so soon.

Hidan merely laughed. "Oh, please. We have geniuses on our side too. They can devise any possible combination and narrow it down to the right one. Of course, that would take some time, so we figured we'd try to get as much out of you as we could before we had to resort to, well this."

He grabbed the notepad, examining the shaky penmanship. With a click of his tongue and a snap of his fingers, they pulled Sakura inches off the ground again.

"Well, we don't have any more need for you. Boys, you're free to do whatever you please."

Hidan sent one more blood-curdling smile her way before walking out of the room.

The two goons walked over to face her, a malicious look crossing their eyes.

Sakura spit in their faces.

"You little troll," the bigger, burlier goon shouted, pulling a knife out from his back pocket. Dozens of hurried footsteps were heard from outside the door along with screaming voices. They didn't seem to recognize them, if their wide eyes were any indication.

A smirk came across her features. If those were her guys, they'd wipe them out in a heartbeat. (If they weren't, they'd still wipe them out because, well, it was pretty obvious they were committing a felony by holding someone captive -i.e her-, and she wasn't soo.)

They waited for the steel door to open with baited breath, but nonetheless took the chance to silently implant the knife into her abdomen. A burst of pain shot through her, causing her to scream in a hoarse voice that made the ache in her throat that much greater.

The scream -or, weird alien sounding noise coming from her throat, because she couldn't call it a scream, really- was apparently loud enough to warn whoever was behind the door that she was in trouble.

As soon as the door opened, she was relived -she never thought she'd say this- to see the face -mask, really- of the perverted man who had taught her everything she knew about combat and weaponry.

Unfortunately for her, the goon decided to give her some _more_ pain to remember him by, because he grabbed the dagger that was still in her side, and yanked it down, causing a long red streak to be visible.

"Sakura!" was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

A girl could only take so much.

She woke up to the sounds of two people arguing.

"Seriously, you guys? I could've died and you're trying to interrupt my much-needed sleep? Do you hate me that much?"

She could practically hear Guy's eyes widening and Kakashi's smirk.

"Oh, well, we certainly didn't _intend_ to wake you, but now that you're up, we have some important matters to discuss." Sakura heard how Kakashi's playful tone turned serious, and automatically knew what this was going to be about.

She adjusted herself to sit up right on the bed she was currently in. When she did, she felt a sharp pain run up her side. She inhaled sharply through her teeth, and made note to be more careful, lest she tear her stitches and the bandages wrapped around her.

Like the rest of their hideout, the medical examination room didn't have the _best_ lighting, but she could see well enough with the dim yellow-orangish tint filling the room. Enough so, that she could see the serious looks on both of their faces.

"Right. I'm assuming this is going to be about Itachi's death?"

A solemn look crossed their features and that was all the affirmation she needed.

After she described the details of the torture and the events that led to Itachi's death, a terrible thought crossed her mind.

"Oh, God, what are we going to tell his family?! They think he's out on a job right now! He was supposed to return two days ago, they must be worried sick!"

"I'm afraid we might have to tell them the truth, Miss Sakura."

She looked at Guy for a moment, his wide eyes unusually clouded. Even in time of disaster, he always regarded her with respect.

' _That's exactly why I can't lose my head over this. I have to stay cool, for them.'_

"No, that won't be necessary. I remember Itachi telling me about a box, in his quarters. If anything ever happened to him, I was to retrieve it and look inside."

Guy took this as a command and bolted out of the room at lightning speed.

A moment of silence passed, before Kakashi spoke up again. "Are you okay?"

With a large breath through her nose, and tears glossing her eyes, she said, "I heard one of best friends get murdered. I am decidedly not okay."

It didn't slip by him that she hadn't mentioned anything about her own physical injuries.

"You don't have anything to prove to me, you know. I practically raised you."

Sakura knew what he was trying to say. 'I don't care if you cry. I already know how strong you are anyways.'

She felt even more grateful to have a man like him in her life when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, giving her all the silent comfort she needed.

After a couple minutes of quiet sobs, Guy reemerged, a black box under his arm.

"Here you go, Miss Sakura."

She silently thanks him for not asking about her now bloodshot eyes.

"Thank you."

When she opened the box, all she found two separate letters. Her name was delicately written on one of the envelopes, the other with the name of a person she didn't know.

"Sasuke."

"That's his younger brother," Kakashi offered out.

She only nodded before ripping her letter open.

' _Sakura,_

 _In the event of my death, it is most likely that my parents still do not know of my activities with you all. I prefer we keep it that way. When you tell my family what happened to me, I ask that you make up a plausible story about a job gone wrong. I know they had wished for me to be a guard, just like my father before me, and the knowledge that I was actively working against their wishes would devastate them._

 _When you go to give the bad news, I would like you to give the other letter to Sasuke, my younger brother. The news would devastate him, and within the letter I have given explicit details about my time here with the warning that discretion is of the upmost importance. I know my younger brother, and there's a high probability that he will try to find our base. He will surely find it, and when he does, I only ask that you branch out, and ask him to be a part of the life I loved so dearly. He may choose to accept,_ _or decline. Either way, it is his choice. I only want him to be given the choice to do something purposeful with his life._

 _It has been a pleasure to serve under you. I know you doubt yourself, but no one could have been chosen to lead us better than you have. I am, and forever will be grateful to have been able to call you my leader, my partner, and my friend._

 _Itachi Uchiha'_

With a small smile gracing her lips, she said, "Call Neji, I have a message I want him to deliver."

 **That was insanely long and fun to write. Please leave some reviews.**


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